Player-piano



J. w. ZIIMMERMAN.

PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, I919.

Patented Sept. 7, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET l- 5141x244 foz J WZ z mmerMam Qmmm e0 elf 1501mm;

Patented Sept. 7, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- J. W. ZIMMERMAN.

PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1919.

taken in the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLAYER-PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 7'. 1920.

Application filed April 7, 1919. Serial No. 288,119.

To all whom. it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN WV. ZIMMERMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Player-Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in piano players or player pianos, the object of the invention being to protect the tracker bar from dirt, dust and foreign matter when the piano is not in use, the device consisting of a tracker bar protector in the form of a sleeve or housing which is movable on and off the tracker bar and adapted to fully expose said bar when the piano is in use and to fully cover and protcct said bar when the piano is not in use.

A further object of the invention is to irovide means for supporting and guiding the protector above referred to adapting the same to slide freely to and from its position of use.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement herein fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a detail front elevation showing the improved protector in its idle position.

Fig. 2 is a similar View with the protector in applied relation.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section plane indicated by the line of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4: is a front elevation of a modification.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section on line of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of another modification.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line 77 of Fig. (3.

Fig. 8 is a detail elevation of one of the protector elements comprised in the construction shown in Fig. 6.

Similar numerals designate corresponding parts in Figs. 1 to 3 to which reference will first be had.

1 designates what is termed the spool box of a player piano. Extending across said spool box in a horizontal plane is the ordinary tracker bar 2 over which the sheet music is drawn in a manner well under- 4 stood. by those familiar with the art to as the tracker bar, said. guide i being supported at its outer end by means of a post or standard 5 which extends upwardly from a horizontal supporting arm 6 secured to the spool box 1 or the frame of the piano.

The protector or shutter is provided at its inner end with an operating knob or projection 7, and when the shutter is in its protecting position a spring detent or catch 8 carried by said knob or projection is adapted to cooperate with a keeper aperture 9 in the tracker bar 2 in holding the shutter in its closed position. The knob or projection 7 in the present embodiment of the invention is a lock casing, and the detent 8 is connected with the lock mechanism in the ordinary or any any other approved manner, so that when the lock mechanism is actuated by its omplementary key, the detent 8 will be retracted and disengaged from the keeper 9, whereupon the protector 3 may be sljidably moved to the idle position shown in Fig. 1.

My novel protector or shutter will be found to be a valuable adjunct for self-play ing pianos, in that when the instrument is not in use, the tracker bar is fully covered and housed, and dust, dirt and foreign articles are effectively prevented from settling in or passing through the perforations in the tracker bar.

In lieu of using a slidable protector or shutter, I may resort to a shutter such as 8" in Figs. 4 and 5; that said shutter 3 being hinged at 3*, so as to swing on and off the tracker bar 2. It will be noted that the said protector or shutter 3* is provided with a knob or projection 7 and a detent 8; the said detent 8 being peculiar in that it is adapted to be passed through a keyhole 9 in the tracker bar 2 and turned about its axis into and out of engagement with said tracker bar 2 through the medium of the lock mechanism in the casing that prefer ably constitutes the knob or projection 7.

Manitestly the protector or shutter 3 is adapted to be readily swung on and off the tracker bar 2.

In Figs. 6 to 8 is shown a construction in which the shutter or protector is made up of two sections 3", one of which carries a knob or projection 7 preferably in the form of a lock casing; the mechanism of which carries a detent adapted to engage a keeper 9" carried by the other section 3". At their outer ends the sections 3 are pivotally and slidably connected to pins 10 on the boil 1, and interposed between the sections 3" and the heads of said pins are springs 11 designed to prevent too free movement of the sections 3* and also designed to detachably secure the sections in the idle positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6. When the lock mechanism in the casing or knob 7 is actuated to disengage the detent thereof from the keeper 9, the sections 3 may be readily moved endwise outwardly and may then be swung to the idle positions shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6. Again when it is desired to cover and protect the tracker bar 2, the sections 3" may readily be returned to and locked in the positions shown by full lines in Fig. 3.

l laving described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is:

1. in combination with the spool box and the tracker bar of a player piano, shutter sections pivotally mounted to rest in alinement over the tracker bar and to swing in a plane parallel to that of the tracker bar, and means subjecting the said sections to yielding pressure to yieldingly maintain the same against the spool box.

2. in combination with the spool box and the tracker bar of a player piano, said box having headed pins at the ends of the tracker bar, shutter sections having slots receiving said headed pins, said sections arranged to rest in alinement over the tracker bar and to be moved endwise outwardly and swung to idle positions against the spool box and at angles to the tracker bar, means to lock the adjacent ends of the sections together when said sections are over the tracker bar, and coiled springs on the pins and between the heads thereof and the sections.

in combination with the spool box and the tracker bar of a player piano, shutter sections pivotally mounted to rest in alinement over the tracker bar and to be swung to positions off the same, and means for l cking the meeting ends of the sections together to secure the sections in position over the tracker bar.

a. The combination. of the tracker bar of a player piano, a dust-excluding shutter movable on and oil the tracker bar, and a lock to secure the shutter on the tracker bar and thereby prevent unauthorized use thereof.

in testimony whereof ll aiiix my signature,

JOHN W. ZIMMERMAN. 

